Refrigerator door or lid



Dec. 23, 1952 c, KAFER 2,622,284

REFRIGERATOR DOOR OR LID Original Filed Oct. 27, 1948 2 SHEET$SHEET 1Dec. 23, 1952 C. H. KAFER REFRIGERATOR DOOR OR LID Original Filed Oct.27, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Zhwentor Clare if Jfafer,

or eg Patented Dec. 23, 1952 REFRIGERATOR D OR OR LID Clare H. Kafer,Palmyra, Mich assignor to Revco, Ina, DeerfielrLMich.

Original application October 27, '1'948,=Serial No. 56,725. Divided andthis application December 5,1951, Serial .No. 260,049

2 Claims. 1

The present application-is a division of my copending'application SerialNo. 56,725, filed October 27, 1948.

This invention relates to a movable covermember, such as a door or lid,which is particularly applicable to refrigerated cabinets, and it isparticularly concerned with a closure member having agasket to seal thejoint between the door and the'box opening, together with cooperating'means'to :retainthe door in true alignment,

It. has heretofore been proposed, and it has become a. common practicein the art, to form door or'lid members for refrigerated cabinets asshallow sheet metal pans in which insulating material is placed toprevent .heat losses, and to close the open inner face of the pan by aplate or liner. It is also conventional practice to place strips ofrubber or like resilient material along the inner edges of the door, sothat, upon closing the door against the casing edges of the cabinet,aseal will be provided to prevent leakage of air around the joint.Problems have been presented, however, due to diificulty in providing agasket which effectively seals the door around its entire perimeter.Other problems are involved inretaining the door in a square or true.shape, as the door pan tends to'warp out of shape, and correctives inthe form of reinforcing frames have unduly increased both weight andcost.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cabinet closurehaving a continuous marginal flange to which a continuous gasket elementis applied,- which gasket is retained in tight engagement at all pointsbymeans of sealingcli-ps'and anchors. A practically perfect sealisthere'by obtained against the cabinet face, and also between theinterior and exterior portions of the door, to prevent heat exchange andmoisture seepage.

The means employed for sealing the gasket to the door, especially at itscorners, is moreover "so formed that it may be utilized as a membercooperating to hold the door pan in its intended square or trueshape,-thus overcoming warping or distorting forces which would tend toseparate thegasket from the door and thereby adversely aifect itsutility.

Other and further objects of the invention, and the advantages to bederived from the practice thereof, will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment, illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. '1 is a front elevation of a door, particularly adapted as a lidfor atop opening cabinet. such as a deep freezer or food storage chest;

Fig. 2 isa bottom planof the door;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the door;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary bottom view, on an enlarged scale, of the doorshown in Figs. 1 and 2, with portions at several corners removed orbroken away at different elevations, in order to show thedetails ofconstruction and assembly;

Figs. Band 6 are fragmentary sections respectively taken on the lines 5-5 and 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a perspective of a corner gusset and gasket retaining plate;and

Fig. 8 is a perspective of a tie rod retaining member.

The door shown in Figs. 1,2, and 3 comprises a formed sheet of metalhaving a top or front H and angularly disposed sides l2 to provide ashallow rectangular pan. A latch l3 may be positioned along the frontedge, and hinges it along the opposite side. The open face of the pan,which constitutes the inside of the door, is covered by a liner l5, andthe perimeter of the pan and the liner are covered bya continuous gasketl6 of rubber or other resilient material, adapted to seal the jointbetween the door and the, cabinet to which it. is applied. The instantdoor is also shown as having an electric light casing I! on the liner15, whose service cord. [8 leads through a switch [-9 which is openwhenthe door is shut, and closed when the door is open. The space withinthe pan is adapted to receive any suitable insulating material, so as tominimize heat transfer between the interior of the cabinet and theoutside air. Doors of this nature are adapted to be used as horizontallids for food storage chests, or as vertically mounted doors on thecustomary domestic refrigerator cabinets.

Referring next to Figs. .4, 5, and 6, the side walls l2 of the door panare bent to provide relatively wide inwardly projecting flanges 2| alongthe perimeter and between the door corners, and relatively narrowinwardly projecting flanges 22 at the corners whose inner edges arecurved to follow the contour of the pan corners. The wide flanges 2| arestopped a slight distance from the pointswhere the curved pan cornersmerge into the straight sides l2, to provide sector-shaped cut awayportions 23, as will be clearly apparent from the lower left corner viewin Fig. 4. Cutting away the corners, and employing a narrow flange 22,facilitates the formation of the pan without the development ofunsightly wrinkles in the metal, which would detract from the appearanceof the door.

Each corner sector 23 receives a gusset plate or bracket 25, thespecific formation of which is clearly shown in Fig. 7. The plateconsists of a sheet metal stamping having an upper step or ledge 26whose outer edge is curved to follow the corner contour, and whichmerges through a riser 21 into a lower step or ledge 28 which issimilarly curved. A second riser 29 merges into a bracket 3| having asubstantially circular outer margin, and disposed substantially parallelto the steps 26 and 28. The bracket 3| is also formed with two slots 32and 33, angularly disposed or out of parallelism with each other, andfor a purpose which will presently appear.

The plate 25 is positioned over the, sector 23 so that the extremitiesof the step 28 engage the ends of the adjacent wide flanges 2|, whilethe step 26 is positioned above and is slightly spaced from the narrowcorner flange 22 by the riser 21. This arrangement is shown particularlyin the upper left corner in Fig. 4, and also in Fig. 5. From theseviews, it will also be seen that the bracket section 3| is disposedbelow the elevation of the flanges 2| and 22, and that it projectsinwardly toward the diagonally opposite corner of the pan. Each plate 25is secured to the flanges 2| by spot welding, as indicated by thereference numeral 34, thus integrating the assembly and increasing itsover-all strength.

Diagonally disposed cross ties extend from the brackets 3| along thefront edge |2 of the pen to the opposite corner along the rear edge, inorder to square the door and retain it from distortion. It is, ofcourse, practical to connect these straps to opposed brackets 3| whenthe dOOr is fabricated, but it is preferred to include some means ofadjustment and rectification after complete assembly, and thereforeadditional means are provided at the rear corners for this purpose.

The two cross tie members may take the form of thin, heat treated, sheetmetal straps 35, 35, each of which is connected to its associatedbracket 3| at the front corner of the pan. At the front left corner, asviewed in Fig. 4, the strap 35 is bent or looped through the slot 32 andis secured on itself by crimping a metal clamp 36 around the overlappingportions. At the front right corner, wherein the plate 25 is shown indotted lines beneath the liner l5, the companion strap 35a is similarlyconnected-except that its end is bent through the slot 33, instead ofthe slot 32. It will be seen from comparison of the two corners that, ineach case, the strap is passed through that slot which is normal to thdiagonal, and the two slots are so positioned that one or the otherbecomes normal to the diagonal as the plate is moved from one corner tothe other. Accordingly, in each instance, the bightof the strap engagesits associated slot over its entire surface, and shearing forces tendingto cut the strap at the bight are thereby eliminated.

The provision of the two slots, respectively normal to the diagonals atthe adjacent corners, enables the plates 25 to be assembled in anycorner without prior selection and matching. The angularity between thetwo slots is so chosen, of course, as to satisfy the criterion ofnormality, and this angularity will depend upon the ratio of the longand short sides of the pan, which in turn determines the angle includedbetween either side and the diagonal. It may be shown, for example, thatwith one slot disposed normal to its diagonal, then the other slotshould be positioned at an angle thereto equal. to (90-2a:), where a: isthe angle between the diagonal and the long side of the rectangular pan.

The opposite ends of the diagonal ties 35, 35a are secured in theirrespective lower right and left corners by anchor members 4|, such as isshown in Figs. 4, 5, and 8. The anchor consists of a sheet metalstamping having an inwardly extending flange 42, corrugated or beadedwith ribs 43 to increase its resistance to distortion, and formed with aslot 44 adapted to receive the end of the strap 35 or 35a which is bentthrough the slot, and is secured with a clamp 36. The anchor furtherincludes 2, depending flange 45, medially formed with an aperture toreceive a headed nut 46, so positioned that the body of the nut projectstoward the corner, while the head engages the flange on its inner sideto prevent separation. A screw 41 of suitable length extends through anaperture 48 drilled at the corner, and it may obviously be drawn up toincrease the tension on the associated strap, and thereby pull the sides|2 of the pan into right angled relation. If the pan should, during use,warp slightly out of true, it is a simple matter to increase or decreasethe tension on one or both straps, thereby rectifying the misalignment.

The apertures 48 are drilled on lines coinciding with the longitudinalaxes of the straps, or along the true diagonals, and the slot 44 isformed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of thenut 45.Accordingly, the bight of the strap passing through the slot 44 willengage over the entire surface, irrespective of which corner is referredto. Hence, it is unnecessary to form the anchors 4| with angularlydisposed slots, and the correction for angular differences is madebyproper location of the apertures 48.

After the pan has been equipped with the gussets, cross braces, andanchors, and has been squared, it is ready to receive the gasket l6,which has a generally rectilinear shape following the contour of thepan, and whose dimensions are only slightly less in length and width.The gasket I5 is continuous, and it may be molded from rubber or othersuitable resilient material. It

consists of a connector section 5| whose width is slightly less thanthat of the flange 2| or 22,

.and which section is directly laid on the flanges 2| and 22. A hingesection 52 disposed at the outer edge of the gasket merges into a halfround section 53 overlying the section 5|, and which may be made hollowif desired, to increase the resilience and scaling properties. Theconnector section 5| is securely retained on the flanges 2| by means ofchannel members 55, having lengths approximately equal to the distancesbetween adjacent edges of the sectors 23, the arms of which respectivelyengage the inner surfaces ofthe flanges 2|, and the surface of theconnector 5| directly below the section 53. I 7

After being positioned in a ratherloose manner, in order'to facilitateassembly, the arms of the clips 55 are forced together by applying acompressing or pinching tool of any suitable type, thereby locking thegasket to the flanges 2| and practically covering and obscuring theconnector section 5| of the gasket. Those portions of the section 5| notcovered by the clips 55 are located, of course, at the pan corners, andthese pass under the steps 26 of the gussets 25, entering theclearancegaps provided by the risers 21. In order-to accommodate theconnector section 5| to the difference in width of :the flanges 2| and22, the corner portions may be cut away, as is shown in Fig. 5. Thesecorner. portions are therefore encased between theflanges 22 and thesteps 26, and, after assembly, the steps 26 are compressed with asuitable tool against the adjacent sections 5|, thereby securelyconnecting the ggsket at the corners, as well as along the edges l Itwill thus be seen that the gasket I6 is sealed to the door panthroughout its entire perimeter, including the curved corner portions,and that it cannot be readily pried away at any point. Suchsubstantially continuous sealing and joining is highly advantageous toprevent entrance of moisture into the interior of the pan, where itspresence could generate odors and corrosion. It is further to be notedthat the result is obtained with a simple and inexpensive construction.

After the gasket I6 has been assembled, the liner I5 is inserted tocomplete the structure. The liner is in the form of a sheet of suitablematerial, such as plastic or the like, and it is assembled by pullingback the sealing section 53 of the gasket [6 about the hinge section 52.The liner I5 is retained against the outer arm of the channels 55 by thepressure exerted by the sealing section 53, and which is sufficient todiscourage efforts of unskilled users to dislodge it. The engagement ofthe section 53 is sufficient to secure the liner IS with some freedom ofmovement parallel to the flanges 2| and 22, to compensate fortemperature changes, the smooth surfaces between the liner and channels55 reducing the total friction to enable such movement to take place. Ifdesired, however, additional securing means may be provided throughapertures 51 (Fig. 6), disposed around the margins of the liner.

It will be seen that by providing the stepped corner gussets 25, the pancorners are reinforced, and means are provided to seal the gasket l6 tothe door and to retain the door in alignment. It will also be noticedthat provision has been made to locate the cross tie members 35 and 35aon true diagonals, thereby framing the door in such manner as to insuremaximum rigidity. It will, of course, be understood that while theinvention has been described with respect to a single embodiment, it issusceptible of numerous modifications and variations without departurefrom its principles, and its scope as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A refrigerator door comprising a rectangular pan having a. front,depending sides, and inwardly projecting flanges extending around theperimeter of the pan, gusset plates secured to the flanges on at leasttwo adjacent corners of the pan, said plates having inwardly extendingbrackets disposed below the plane of the flanges, said plates beingformed with pairs of angularly disposed elongated slots, one of which isnormal to the diagonal at each corner, diagonally disposed flat strapshaving an end looped through the normal slot at two adjacent corners ofthe pan, and anchoring members at the opposite corners of the panconnected to said straps and holding them under tension.

2. A refrigerator door comprising a rectangular sheet metal pan havingdepending sides and inwardly projecting flanges extending from saidsides, said flanges lying in a common plane, gusset plates secured tothe flanges at the corners of the pan, said plates being formed withbrackets disposed below the plane of the flanges and extending towardthe diagonally opposite corner of the pan, said plates being formed Withpairs of slots one of which is normal to the diagonal and the other ofwhich is angularly inclined thereto by an angle substantially equal toninety degrees minus twice the angle included between the diagonal andthe longer side of the rectangular pan, whereby said plates may beconnected to any corner and one of said slots will be normal to thediagonal from said corner, straps connected to one end to said bracketsthrough said normal slots at two adjacent corners of the pan, and anchormembers connected to the pan at the diagonally opposite corners, saidstraps being connected at their opposite ends to said anchor members,said anchor members being adjustable along the diagonal to vary thetension in said straps.

CLARE H. KAF'ER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

